Catalan foreign minister to 'double down' on making Catalan official during Belgian EU presidency 

Catalan foreign minister, Meritxell Serret, has promised to “double down” on efforts to make Catalan a co-official language in the European Union in 2024.

Serret met with Belgium’s ambassador to Spain, Geert Cockx, in Madrid on Thursday, and later with the Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel Albares to discuss the issue.

The meetings come as the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union ends on December 31, to be followed by a Belgian mandate starting January 1, 2024. 

Putting the issue of Catalan co-officiality to a vote in the European Union was one of the demands of the pro-independence parties before they backed the Socialist Pedro Sánchez as Spanish prime minister in November.  

No consensus was reached on the matter during Spain’s six-month EU presidency, which pro-independence Esquerra Republicana spokesman Gabriel Rufián called “a failure”. The officiality question has, however, been discussed at meetings on several occasions.  

After her meeting with the Spanish foreign minister, Serret said that the Spanish government should not stop working to get Catalan recognized in the EU institutions: "The Spanish government has the resources and the capacity to lobby in the Council of the European Union."  

Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, acknowledged and "accepted the criticisms” from pro-independence parties in Congress on Wednesday and promised to continue working to make Catalan a co-official language.